Delegates of the 2nd ASEAN+3 Education Ministers Meeting Friday committed themselves to prioritizing the key areas of connectivity, mobility and human resource development, IT and English language training here in the Lao capital.
Under the theme "Consolidation of Action Plans and Future Considerations Post 2015," the 2nd ASEAN+3 Education Ministers Meeting ran in conjunction with the 8th ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting and the 2nd East Asia Education Ministers meeting.
The meeting was co-chaired by Lao Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Education and Sports Phankham Viphavanh and Minister of Education for the Republic of Korea Hwang Woo-yea.
The meeting was attended by education ministers and senior officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN University Network Secretariat, and the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organisation were also in attendance.
According to a joint statement from the meeting, the ministers welcomed the launch of the ASEAN State of Education Report 2013.
The report will act as a baseline against which to measure future performance in the area of education and cooperation regionally.
The ministers noted the report's role in highlighting the importance of education and the achievement of development goals. They also acknowledged the report's impact towards achieving equitable economic development and shared prosperity.
With less than a year before the establishment of the ASEAN community in 2015, the ministers agreed on the need towards increasing the education profile and active participation within the ASEAN+3 framework.
They also affirmed the general objective of the ASEAN+3 Plan of Action on Education (2010-2017) encouraging member states to expand their implementation efforts at the national and bilateral levels to a regional level.
The ministers welcomed Japan's report on the initiative to support Japanese universities and their collaboration with ASEAN+3 universities. They also welcomed China's Report of the First ASEAN+ 3 Rector's Conference in Peking University in 2012.
The assembled ministers also welcomed the Republic of Korea's progress on the ASEAN Cyber University project and the "Training courses for ASEAN engineering students" which will provide hands- on experience at South Korean universities and businesses.
The meeting also welcomed Malaysia's hosting of the 3rd ASEAN+3 Education Ministers Meeting in conjunction with 9th ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting and the 3rd East Asia Education Ministers Meeting in 2016.